IVCC gets pizzeria!
By JJ Ossola
IV Leader Staff, Jan 25, 2007
In the fall, Illinois Valley Community College received a
new tenant in the cafeteria in the form of Lil Bella's pizzeria. In October
2002, Steve Beckcom and Scott Limberg opened a Joe's Station house pizzeria in
Utica.
Beckcom had worked at pizzerias on and off through out his
life and Limberg is the owner of the Streator Joe's. Beckcom said, "As a child,
I remember hanging out and working with my parents as they ran various
restaurants throughout their career."
Beckcom soon decided to strike out on his own. Beckcom said,
"My wife and I wanted to leave a legacy for our first daughter, AnaBella, now 3
˝, so we decided to change the name from Joe's to Lil Bella's Pizza in October
of 2005." Less than a year later, Beckcom has expanded from Utica, to IVCC and
La Salle in the fall of 2006.
In wanting to leave a legacy, Beckcom decided that he would
create a unique sauce to set his pizzas apart. "I have attended numerous
training seminars on restaurant ownership and recipe making over the past four
years. “I worked on changing the recipes for the dough and pizza sauce from the
original 'Joe's' to Bella's own new secret recipe," Beckcom added.
Beckcom insists that the key element in his Bella brand is
the inclusion of family. His mother, Melissa manages the IVCC location and his
brother, David runs the Utica location. Beckcom said, "I manage the La Salle
store and my wife, Betsy, assists me with the administrative end of the
business. My Dad, sister, and sister-in-law also help at the various locations
on a regular basis. I am very grateful to my family for all their support."
Ultimately, it may be Beckcom's love of pizza that sets him
apart. Beckcom started his love affair as a delivery driver at the Streator
Joe's. Soon after he was cooking and eventually started managing the pizzeria.
Beckcom said, "I explored other business opportunities, but always found myself
coming back to the pizzeria.
“Even I enjoy tasting our competitors' pizza from time to
time. I like the fact that every pizza place is a little different. The key to
success for my restaurant is using higher quality ingredients and our special
sauce and dough recipes."